Compressors are well known in the art with their primary function being to increase the pressure of a gas. It is also well known that compression of a gas not only increases pressure, but also causes heating of the gas by the work of compression. Thus, a gas is considerably hotter at the discharge than at the inlet of the compressor. In multistage compressors, for subsequent stages, this increase in heat (or temperature) requires greater heat rise for a given pressure ratio, which requires more power than compressing a cool gas.
Isothermal compression has been used as a way of maintaining a constant temperature during the gas compression process which, in turn, reduces the compression power required. However, typical isothermal compression processes will compress the gas in steps with intercooling between these steps with the downside of increased complexity and size of the compressor apparatus.
Thus, a need exists for an efficient means of compressing a gas that maximizes heat transfer while also minimizing aerodynamic pressure losses. A means of achieving isothermal compression of a gas without the size and piping requirements of prior art isothermal compressors would provide numerous advantages.